“Drive and motivation has never been a problem for this team,” Baise said. “It’s a bunch of competitive guys who really take pride in what they do…. We’ve been in the playoffs five years in a row and really want that streak to continue.”
At the end of the night, though, the Crimson was unable to stage a game-winning comeback. Despite building an early lead in that final set, Harvard fell, 15-10, to drop the fifth-set marathon.
The close competition began in the first set, when Harvard and Princeton battled back-and-forth. The Tigers gained a 17-15 lead after two strong blocks and went on to win the first set, 25-20.
During the second set, even though White and junior middle blocker Riley Moore each had three kills, the Crimson lost momentum, posting ten kills but two service errors.
However, the third set changed everything. Harvard quickly gained a 9-5 lead to put pressure on the Tigers. Freshman setter Matthew Cvrtlik stood out with one kill and three assists. As the set drew to an end, the Crimson hung tough, claiming a 25-20 victory to force the evening to a fourth set.
In that fourth frame, Harvard bolted to a lead, holding a five-point advantage until the end of the set. Momentum propelled Harvard, as the players began to pull off tough shots in key points. Late in the fourth, for example, Moore landed a backhand strike to win a point for the Crimson. Set four came to an emphatic end as White had a sideline kill to earn the 25-17 win.
“I think we knew in both of those first two sets that we were playing fairly well,” Murphy said. “We just weren't able to close them out at the end. So in the third and fourth sets, we brought the same focus we had in the first two sets and increased our energy to rally back and win those next two.”